The latest storm information on the morning of July 20 from the US Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) said that Typhoon Wipha, the third storm in the East Sea, is 206 km east-southeast of Hong Kong (China).
The storm, named Crising in the Philippines and known as storm No. 6 in Japan, has been moving west-northwest at a speed of 31 km/h for the past 6 hours, with the highest waves reaching 8.2 m.
JWC forecasters say Wipha will quickly turn west and pass south of Hong Kong (China) in the next 12 hours.
Recent radar data from Hong Kong (China) shows that the change of path of Typhoon Wipha has begun. The typhoon is expected to make landfall in western Macau (China), near the mouth of the Hoang Mau River in the next 12 hours.
Typhoon Wipha is then expected to turn west-southwest, travel along the Chinese coast and reach the vicinity of Zhejiang, China in the next 24 hours.
The storm is forecast to slow down after making landfall and move north into the Gulf of Tonkin in the next 36 hours. The JTWC said that due to the weakening wind direction model, the movement speed of Wipha in the Gulf of Tonkin will be significantly slower.
Typhoon Wipha is forecast to make a second landfall in the next 60 hours, near the Red River Delta, southeast of Hanoi. After making landfall, the system will continue moving inland until the end of the forecast period.
In terms of intensity, Typhoon Wipha is expected to strengthen slightly over the next 12 hours, with a maximum intensity of 110 km/h when it hits China.
According to the latest typhoon information from the Hong Kong Meteorological Station (China), Typhoon Wipha is approaching Hong Kong (China). The storm strengthened from a strong tropical storm to a major storm by midnight on July 19.
The Hong Kong (China) weather agency issued a Category 9 storm signal to Typhoon Wipha at 7:20 a.m. on July 20, just 7 hours after the first Category 8 warning of the year took effect.
A level 9 warning means that the wind is expected to increase significantly. A level 9 warning was last issued in Hong Kong (China) in September 2023 when super typhoon Saola made landfall. Seven days after Saola, Typhoon Koinu prompted the agency to issue a level 9 warning for nearly five hours.
Typhoon Wipha is forecast to be about 50 km south of Hong Kong (China) around noon on July 20.
Due to the impact of Typhoon Wipha, 515 flights were canceled in Hong Kong (China), including more than 240 flights arriving and departing.
